United Way of East Central Iowa names Tim Stiles new CEO

CEDAR RAPIDS - After a four-month national search, the United Way of East Central Iowa has named Tim Stiles, the current chief operating officer, president and CEO.

Stiles begins his new position on Jan. 1.

He was selected from a pool of more than 60 applicants, according to a news release from the United Way of East Central Iowa, which is based at 317 Seventh Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids.

Stiles has worked for United Way for 30 years, first as allocation director in Wichita, Kansas, for United Way of the Plains and also as CEO for United Way of Siouxland in Sioux City.

'After a comprehensive, nationwide search for a leader who could best serve our community, we confirmed that we had the best talent already on staff,” said Jon Bancks, UWECI board chairman, in a news release. 'Tim's years of diverse experience in relationship building, community allocations and volunteer engagement here and with other United Ways made him the clear choice.”

Current CEO Lois Buntz said she is glad to see someone familiar with the Eastern Iowa community take over the position. Buntz plans to retire at the end of the year.

Stiles said he is excited to continue pursuing Buntz's goals for the community.

'I look forward to exploring new ways to bring our community together to build outstanding partnerships, explore innovative strategies to grow support, and expand our relationships,” Stiles said in a news release. 'It has been a privilege to work with Lois Buntz these past few years and I look forward to serving our community in this new leadership role at United Way.”

Stiles said his first goals are to continue to maintain and grow the partnerships United Way has with area agencies.

'We have some really good partnerships with agencies we support,” Stiles said in an interview. 'I'll be getting out in front of them and listen to what they what would like to see United Way do. They've been a part of our success over the years. The expertise we can bring to the table with all the partner agencies we support is something we need to continue to do and get better at doing.”

He also wants to promote change in how the organization raises money, especially through workplace campaigns. Stiles said he wants to present more measurable results to donors on the impact of their donations.

'The workplace campaign is definitely changing,” Stiles said. 'There's a new generation of donors we need to appeal to. It absolutely is the direction we need to go: community impact. Having measurable results people can see that are a direct result of their supporting United Way is important.”

Stiles said he is the candidate who rose to the top of the list because of his previous experiences at United Way and because he already knows the Eastern Iowan community and can 'hit the ground running” in January.